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Objective:To determine primary productivity, pollen production, plant demographics, and species diversity associated with secondary succession along a CO2/temperature gradient from urban to rural areas which mimics future climatic change. This information will be used to assess how pioneer species (i.e. weeds) will respond to future climate change.

Approach:Soil whose seed bank has been characterized will be mixed for uniformity and distributed to a depth of 1 m at the Baltimore Science Center (urban location), Carrie Murry Nature Center (City park, suburban location) and an organic farm (Buckeystown, rural location) where each site differs in either atmospheric CO2 or temperature. Species emergence, type, and long-term success will be determined over time in order to quantify weed growth, species shifts and rate of succession.